RECOMMENDED READINGS ON THE QUESTION: DO POORER NATIONS HAVE MORAL OBLIGATIONS TO RICHER NATIONS?

PHIL 2320: SPRING (II) 2001: CONTEMPORARY MORAL PROBLEMS

Bob Corbett, instructor

• MORAL OBLIGATIONS TO DISTANT OTHERS   A paper by Bob Corbett which investigates the question in relation to the individual, not the state. Nonetheless the basis argument is relevant to our question.
• WELL-FED CATS AND HUNGRY CHILDREN   A paper by Bob Corbett which develops a criterion of "circle of closeness" for dealing with moral obligations to any others from human, animals in general or, for that matter, nations.
• DOWNWARD MOBILITY AND THE OTHER   A paper by Bob Corbett which argues that richer nations unjustly make use of the land, labor, natural resources and often thwart the political self-determination of other nations in order to profit from them.
• THE PROBLEMATIC OF HUMAN RIGHTS    An essay by Bob Corbett which explores the distinction between positive and negative rights. While the discussion is not directly on the topic under consideration it does explore the basis of some of the arguments which are quite relevant.
• Author: Martin Wolf. Title: "Spreading the world's wealth: Poverty can be signigicantly reduced only by exposing the poor to the opportunities presented by trade and inward investment" published by "Financial Times (London)".

  Description:The article is about globalization and how it could be of advantage for developing nations to reduce world poverty. The author deals with the issue of how the poorest nations can get an economic connection.
  Location:Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library)
  Note: since this source needs a password to enter, just go to passports and search the author of this article.
  RelevanceI believe the article is relevant for our discussion about whether richer nations are obliged to help poorer nations because economic integration is necessary for increasing wealth in a nation. Industrial countries pretend that they want to help while they exclude developing countries from trade, which is the best opportunity to reduce poverty.
  
  Suggested by Andreas Wirth

• Author: Nor Mohamed Yakcop. Title: "Getting rich to help poor."

  published by "New Straits Times: (Malaysia)".
  Description: This article is about the idea to taxe richer countries in order to finance infra structure in the poor countries. This tax-system would be an effective methode in order to reduce world poverty and to raise the living standard in the poor countries to a decent level.
  Location:Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:I believe that this article is relevant to our discussion because it deals with a relatively realistic solution to reduce world poverty. The richer nations would finance the establishment of a solide infrastructure and they would give the third world a fair chance to get connected to the western economic system. Developing countries could decrease their debts and through a growing economy the income per citizen would rise.
  Source recommended by Andreas Wirth

• Singer, Peter. "Living High and Letting Die" (excerpt from book)

  Description: The author points out that nations could do much more than they are doing right now. He argues for an increase in aid and explains that many ethical questions are on shaky ground.
  Location:Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:The exerpt includes many arguments for the idea of an moral obligation and touches many points that are relevant for the subject.
  Source recommend by Phillip Sulke.

• Author: Aung San Suu Kyi. Title: Freedom, Development, and Human Worth

  Description: The author argues that democracy needs to be spread throughout the world before real development can take place. Rich nations that are already democratic, have a larger obligation than just providing economic assistance.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:What makes this article particularly important is that it goes beyond mere economic assistance. Although more emphasis is placed on what the poorer countries need to do themselves, there's a clear call for action to richer nations that they are obliged to do much more for the benefit of poorer countries.
  Source recommended by Jani Moliis

• Author: Veit Bader. Title: Practical Philosophy and First Admission

  Description: The article argues that it's morally indefensible for rich countries to close their borders tightly from migrants from poorer countries as long as the rich countries are not doing their fair share in fighting global poverty. They have an moral obligation to let the huddled masses in.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:The question of people's movement through borders is extremely relevant to the discussion on world poverty. Allowing more people in to richer countries countries is one way of assisting the poorer countries, or at least their peoples.
  Source recommended by Jani Moliis

• Author: Robert C. Loehr and Eric M. Wong. Title: The UN and humanitarian assistance

  Description: The article argues that the United Nations have the moral obligation for humanitarian intervention. The question is, if international peacekeeping violate the sovereignty of a given country, does UN still have the right to intervene.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:The United Nations, or rather Western countries of the UN feel morally obliged to intervene in cases, when human rights and human welfare are violated in some countries, even though through the intervention they are violating the sovereignty of states. Do rich countries have to feel obliged to help poor countries, or countries in danger or in poverty? Who has the right to determine when a country needs economic or any kind of other help? The UN has a moral obligation for helping countries in need as it is set forth in UN's millenium report. (Just a note: off course under UN intervention not poor countries will help other poor countries, but rich ones, which have the abilities and resources for providing aid.)
  Source recommended by Fatime Barbara Hegyi

• Author: John Kevany. Title: Extreme poverty: an obligation ignored

  Description: The article highlights that though living conditions are improving gradually, poverty, is still the biggest killer and the greatest cause of illnesses. To combat poverty, national and international organizations and lobbying are required to raise consciousness that poverty is unacceptable.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:While, in many parts of the world, goods are wasted and thrown away just to keep prices up, one-fifth of the world's population is living in extreme poverty. The World Health Organization and other international organizations have the obligation to make a change. Poor countries do need the help of developed countries and resource wasting cannot go on unnoticed. And again, just like in the case of the first article, international organizations, espacially under those I mean the countries possessing resources for providing aid. Who else could help poor nations than rich ones?
  Source recommended by Fatime Barbara Hegyi

• Author: Caroline Lucas. Title: Eliminating world poverty.

  Description: The article discusses the measures that should be taken to make globalization work for the world's poor. It argues that globalization works for the eradication of poverty by certain measures, by creating new opportunities for development, enabling progress.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:Globalization is said to create a new global market, which would be to enable poor countries to develop and progess, but at the same time it is said that it even created a wider gap between poor and rich countries. Globalization should be to work for the eradication of world poverty and helping poor nations. Though it is accused that only rich nations profit from it by the utilization of cheap factors of production in poor countries. Rich countries obtain cheap raw materials and labor from poor countries and later poor countries have to buy the expensive products that were made from their cheap raw materials even worsening their economic conditions.
  Source recommended by Fatime Barbara Hegyi

• Author: S.K.Kaushik. Title: "People: from impoverishment to empowerment."

  Description: The author points out four issues to improve social and economic standards for people around the world. Social barriers between rich and poor must be changed backwards.
  Location:From: The American journal of economics and sociology
  May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:Important article for our topic, because it shows the importance and the need for changes.
  Source recommended by Niko Fletcher.

• Author: Dani Rodrik. Title: "Growth Versus Reduction A Hollow Debate."

  Description: This article follows the debate about weather countries should pursue economic growth first or should they focus on poverty reduction.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:The issue is relevant to our discussion because the argument given in it and questions raised could be those of our discussion.
  Source recommended by Petra Ljevak

• Author: Unnamed. Title: "Level Of The Third World Urban Poverty Underestimated"

  Description: This article discusses how international agencies and governments fail to understand particular characteristics of urban poverty and because of that underestimate its reach, level and importance.
  Location: Africa News Service, Feb 6, 2001
  May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:Why this is important for our issue of weather rich nations are obligated to help the poor ones, is because it provides us with information about how poor the third world countries really are and what the right channels would be if decided to help.
  Source recommended by Petra Ljevak

• Author: Kenneth C. Calman. Title: Equity, poverty and health for all.

  Description: This article deals with the question of ` Health for all` regardless if people are poor and the obligation of others to help poor people.
  Location:Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:I think this article is relevant because it deals with the question of equity and equality. The article is also about the problems of poverty, namley the health.
  Source recommended by Julia Schmidt

• Author: Not given. Title: Help the poor to help themselves

  Description: In this article the author tells us that the system of aid has to be restructured to help poor people to help themselves.
  Location:Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:I think this article is relevant because it is about our obligation to help poor people to help themselves
  Source recommended by Julia Schmidt

• Author: Kenneth C. Calman. Title: "Equity, poverty and health for all."

  Description: This article links poverty to poor health. It says that the resolution involves us all.
  Location:From: British Medical journal
  May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:Important article for our topic, because equal health care standards for all people around the world are a great topic, nowadays.
  Source recommended by Niko Fletcher.

• Author: BIHARI VAJPAYEE. Title: CURING POVERTY WITH COLLECTIVE EFFORT BY ATAL

  Description: This paper argues to cure world poverty with the help of collective effort of all nations.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:It is related to our subject because it discusses some important aspects, causes, possible solution of it.
  Source recommended by Sylvia Bako

• Author: JOEL SCHWARTZ, Title: MORAL REFORM - LEARNING FROM THE PAST.

  Description: Moral reformation plays an important role in a nations development and reduction of poorness and this is explained in the article.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:Tthere are several arguments for the introduction of morality that are vitla for our discussion on the topic.
  Source recommended by Sylvia Bako

• Author: PRANAY B. GUPTE. Title: HOW TO SAVE FAILED STATES

  Description: Failed states are serious threat at a global level. the richer countries should have an obligaton to prevent such a catastrophy. every time a state fails it contributes to the world poverty with a big proportion.
  Location: May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Source recommended by Sylvia Bako

• Author: Geoffery Gilbert. Title: Adam Smith on the nature and causes of Poverty.

  Description: This article is rather self explanitory from the title. However the author really turns this into more of a relavant moral debate. This is review of Adam Smith by the author. It is Adam Smith that I think is more relavant to our discussion.
  Location:From the Review of Social Economy,Fall 1997.
  May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Source recommended by April Charles.

• Author: Elliot Adams. Title: The New Poor House.

  Description: A brief summary would be the nature of the politics behind the assistance to disadvantaged countries, especially since the Cold War is over. More so is a clear picture of exactlly how much financial assistance has taken place and what countries do so more often and why.
  Location:From: from Summer 1993, The National Interest Magazine.
  May be found in: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe (Webster Eden Library) [Note: since this site requires a password just go to passports and then search the author.]
  Relevance:I think this article is relevant because it gives us facts. It is necessary to have facts when you are trying use good reason. Now that I have read this article I can understand the nature of what we will be discussing in class.
  Source recommended by April Charles.

HOME